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Jonathan Walker...Artist
Jonathan was born in 1966 and raised near the market town of Leek in the heart of the Staffordshire Moorlands. He spent much of his childhood exploring the countryside in the company of his father, Keith, a more than competent painter himself. In his late teens and early twenties Jonathan struggled to find a direction. He studied courses in Philosophy, Theology and Fine Art before qualifying as an Occupational Therapist working with people experiencing severe mental health problems.
He moved to Devon in 1991 where he now lives with his wife Frances and sons Laurie & Henry. The inspiration of Dartmoor and the countryside around Exeter has given new impetus to his interest in depicting the badgers, foxes and voles that his naturalist’s eye observes everywhere. His animals are always rooted in the soil, as much a part of the landscape as the sky and the trees. His rare ability to give to each of them their unique characteristics and personas, while dressing them up in old cast off human garments never robs them of their intrinsic “animalness”.
Although rooted in the heritage of English illustration it is Jonathan’s unerring draughtsmanship and his humour that nevertheless makes his work unmistakably contemporary. His pallet, because it is always true to the siennas and ochres of the real landscape, may at first appear muted. His characters, however, are of the mould and grime of the soil, unsentimental and honest.
Painting has always been central for Jonathan, a passion, and has been published as a children’s book illustrator along the way.
See below for Limited Edition prints by Jonathan Walker
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